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The Evaluation of Genomic Applications in Practice and Prevention Working Group was first convened in 2005 to develop and test evidence-based methods for the evaluation of genomic tests in transition from research to clinical and public health practice. Over the ensuing years, the Working Group has met 26 times, publishing eight recommendation statements, two methods papers, and one outcomes paper, as well as planning and serving as technical experts on numerous associated systematic reviews. Evaluation of Genomic Applications in Practice and Prevention methods have evolved to address implications of the proliferation of genome-wide association studies and are currently expanding to face challenges expected from clinical implementation of whole-genome sequencing tests. In this article, we review the work of the Evaluation of Genomic Applications in Practice and Prevention Working Group over the first 8 years of its existence with an emphasis on lessons learned throughout the process. It is hoped that in addition to the published methods of the Working Group, the lessons we have learned along the way will be informative to others who are producers and consumers of evidence-based guidelines in the field of genomic medicine.

Resident microbiota activates regulatory cells that modulate intestinal inflammation and promote and maintain intestinal homeostasis. IL-10 is a key mediator of immune regulatory function. Our studies describe the functional importance and mechanisms by which gut microbiota and specific microbial components influence the development of intestinal IL10-producing B cells. Using fecal transplant into germ-free (GF) [Il10.sup.+/EGFP] reporter and [Il10.sup.-/-] mice, we demonstrated that microbiota from specific pathogen-free mice primarily stimulated IL-10-producing colon-specific B cells and T regulatory 1 cells in ex-GF mice. IL-10 in turn downregulated microbiota-activated mucosal inflammatory cytokines. TLR2 and -9 ligands and enteric bacterial lysates preferentially induced IL-10 production and the regulatory capacity of intestinal B cells. Analysis of [IL10.sup.+/EGFP] mice crossed with additional gene-deficient strains and B cell cotransfer studies demonstrated that microbiota-induced IL-10-producing intestinal B cells ameliorated chronic T cell-mediated colitis in a TLR2-, MyD88-, and PI3K-dependent fashion. In vitro studies implicated downstream signaling of PI3Kp110[delta] and AKT. These studies demonstrated that resident enteric bacteria activated intestinal IL-10-producing B cells through TLR2, MyD88, and PI3K pathways. These B cells reduced colonic T cell activation and maintained mucosal homeostasis in response to intestinal microbiota., Introduction Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs), including Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, are T cell-mediated, chronic disorders whose development is influenced in part by dysregulated, aggressive intestinal mucosal immune reactions to [...]

Explores information architecture curricula at North American universities based on an analysis of 40 course descriptions available on the Web. Academic disciplines related to IA education include library and information science, information technology, business administration, literature, arts, and design as well as continuing education programs. (Author/LRW)

Reflects on the author's long, demanding, and rewarding career as a teacher and administrator in community colleges. Describes how she found herself an advocate of change in the profession in the 1970s, the differences she sensed and thrived upon in the community college experience, and how flexibility was the key to successfully teaching the wide array of community college students. (SR)

A gender bias in health has led to the exclusion of women from important research studies, the widespread notion that many women's health problems are psychologically based and, when compared to men, second-rate patient treatment. Cardiovascular research has been largely conducted on men, for example, while other studies using males have then applied generalized conclusions to women, without considering hormonal differences. Physicians, meanwhile, often misperceive women as having health problems with emotional roots. Men often receive preferential status in treatment of certain diseases, as well.